The one where I start a daily challenge and share the beginnings of my DLP 2015 (Documented Life Project).

I have been on skillshare for half a year, and really have done nothing with it. Well, I decided that was going to change! I took the first leap by taking the class Drawing Daily Monsters with Stefan G. Bucher. If you do not know his work, you really should go to his website and take a look- AMAZING. http://www.dailymonster.com/  In the class he shows you the intricacies of creating a blob using sumi ink and compressed air. Then you must examine your blob and find the hidden monster on the page. He also urges artists to create a challenge to do something everyday-- like make art everyday. Some have taken up the challenge as a 100 day challenge. I know myself and my absolute inability to stick to one thing for that long. SO I have created a 30 day challenge for myself. At the end of the 30 days, I will challenge myself to something else.  I want to use these challenges as a way to sharpen my skills at one particular aspect of art. This challenge of using only black, white, and grey tones is out of my comfort zone. I can see that it will increase my knowledge with shadowing and highlights. I am also using it to stretch my imagination away from the ordinary "girl art" I tend to create. Here are a few blobs before the creatures have appeared.

 I am currently on day 6. These are three of my favorites so far.  Two of them do not have eyes as I have been doing them in bed every night to wind down and I keep forgetting to grab my white pens from the studio.

I get frustrated when something doesn't immediately come out and introduce itself to ome. But I love where it is taking my mind, away from the same old same old. My three boys definitely find these cooler than the girls and mermaids I usually paint.

On the same idea of challenging myself, I have begun two art journals-- YES...Two.  One I have already introduced here on the blog. It is for Inspiration Wednesdays (IW15). It is only a twice a month thing, and is more abstract in thought and design. The second is the Documented Life Project by Art 5. LOVE that IT IS FREE! Every month there is a Theme. Every week there is an Art Challenge and a Prompt. Here are my first 2 entries for the January theme of "The Blank Page and how to Face it."

January 1
Art Challenge: Book Paper
Journal Prompt: Be Your Own Goal Keeper

For this one I tore up all kinds of paper and collaged them down.  I then stamped, gessoed and gel mediumed all over them.  I took some distress inks and sprayed and dripped them and created a really lively colorful background. I liked the prompt-- meaning I should be the one setting my GOALS and then I should be the one to finish them. I black gessoed two area and wrote a quote about that in each space. I then took my black ink pen and decoratively wrote a bunch of my goals all over the page. I like that the background is so busy you have to hunt for them-- it kind of keeps them secretively mine. Making me the KEEPER of my GOALS.

January 10
Art Challenge:  Gesso
Journal Prompt:  “The beginning is always today.” -Mary Shelley

I started out by laying down a printed napkin and covering it in clear gesso. I knew I wanted a quote on the page so I made a really smooth surface with black gesso (loving this stuff). I ran some washi tape between the two- and yes, it is a little crooked.  I decided to break out my Shiva oil sticks and create a bride and groom using them since they don't see a lot of action. I liked the Mary Shelly quote-- but it did not ring home for me. SO I found this one by Fawn Weaver:

"The difference between an ordinary marriage and an extraordinary marriage is in giving just a little 'extra' as often as possible, for as long as we both shall live."

I feel like it coincided with the Mary Shelly quote, because any day is a good day to start thinking that way about your marriage.

So I decided to not get stressed about staying up to task every single week on this journal-- nothing needs to add to my stress. And since I really like working on multiple pages at a time, I created these little white tags. They have the theme, challenge, and prompt written on them.  I keep them wrapped around the envelope in the front of the cover of the journal. When I am ready to work on the next spread the info will be right there waiting. I will also be able to quickly see what "I was going for" when I come back to these pages in the future.